"It is the right as well as the duty of all men in society,publicly and at stated seasons, to worship the Supreme Being, thegreat Creator and Preserver of the universe. And no subject shallbe hurt, molested, or restrained in his person, liberty, or estate,for worshipping God in the manner and season most agreeable to thedictates of his own conscience; or for his religion professionof sentiments; provided he doth not disturb the public peace,or obstruct others in their religious worship...."

“May the father of all mercies scatter light, and not darkness, upon our paths, and make us in all our several vocations useful here, and in His own due time and way everlastingly happy.” —George Washington =========

"In disquisitions of every kind there are certain primary truths, or first principles, upon which all subsequent reasoning must depend.” —Alexander Hamilton ========

“Without religion, I believe that learning does real mischief to the morals and principles of mankind.” —Benjamin Rush ========

"The foundation of national morality must be laid in privatefamilies. . . . How is it possible that Children can have anyjust Sense of the sacred Obligations of Morality or Religion if,from their earliest Infancy, they learn their Mothers live inhabitual Infidelity to their fathers, and their fathers in asconstant Infidelity to their Mothers?"

"Statesmen by dear Sir, may plan and speculate for Liberty, but itis Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the Principlesupon which Freedom can securely stand....The only foundationof a free Constitution, is pure Virtue, and if this cannot beinspired into our People, in a great Measure, than they have itnow, They may change their Rulers, and the forms of Government,but they will not obtain a lasting Liberty."

"The ingredients which constitute energy in the Executive are,first, unity; secondly, duration; thirdly, an adequate provisionfor its support; fourthly, competent powers. ... The ingredientswhich constitute safety in the republican sense are, first,a due dependence on the people, secondly, a due responsibility."

"If a well-regulated militia be the most natural defense of a freecountry, it ought certainly to be under the regulation and at thedisposal of that body which is constituted the guardian of thenational security. If standing armies are dangerous to liberty,an efficacious power over the militia in the same body ought,as far as possible, to take away the inducement and the pretextto such unfriendly institutions. If the federal government cancommand the aid of the militia in those emergencies which callfor the military arm in support of the civil magistrate, it canthe better dispense with the employment of a different kind offorce. If it cannot avail itself of the former, it will be obligedto recur to the latter. To render an army unnecessary will be amore certain method of preventing its existence than a thousandprohibitions upon paper."

"The Grecians and Romans were strongly possessed of the spirit ofliberty but not the principle, for at the time they were determinednot to be slaves themselves, they employed their power to enslavethe rest of mankind."

"The citizens of America have too much discernment to be arguedinto anarchy. and I am much mistaken if experience has not wroughta deep and solemn conviction in the public mind that greaterenergy of government is essential to the welfare and prosperityof the community."

"Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possessover the people of almost every other nation, the existence ofsubordinate governments, to which the people are attached and bywhich the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier againstthe enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any whicha simple government of any form can admit of."

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldierand the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from theservice of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves thelove and thanks of man and woman."

"Wherever indeed a right of property is infringed for thegeneral good, if the nature of the case admits of compensation,it ought to be made; but if compensation be impracticable, thatimpracticability ought to be an obstacle to a clearly essentialreform."

"The proposed Constitution, so far from implying an abolitionof the State governments, makes them constituent parts of thenational sovereignty, by allowing them a direct representation inthe Senate, and leaves in their possession certain exclusive andvery important portions of sovereign power. This fully corresponds,in every rational import of the terms, with the idea of a federalgovernment."

"The diversity in the faculties of men from which the rightsof property originate, is not less an insuperable obstacle to auniformity of interests. The protection of these faculties isthe first object of government."

I've been on the road, and so have not posted on this thread for several days:

"Reading, reflection and time have convinced me that the interestsof society require the observation of those moral precepts...inwhich all religions agree."

-- Thomas Jefferson (Westmoreland County Petition, 2 November 1785)

Reference: Religion and the Founding of the American Republic,Hutson, (84); original Westmoreland County, petition, November 2,1785, to V==============="First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of hiscountrymen, he was second to none in humble and enduring scenesof private life. Pious, just humane, temperate, and sincere;uniform dignified, and commanding; his example was as edifyingto all around him as were the effects of that example lasting;correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence and virtuealways felt his fostering hand. The purity of his private chartergave effulgence to his public virtues;. Such was the man forwhom our nation morns"

=========“We should always remember that our strength still lies in our faith in the good sense of the American people.” “There’s no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.” “Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.” “To those who are fainthearted and unsure, I have this message: If you’re afraid of the future, then get out of the way, stand aside. The people of this country are ready to move again.” “We must remove government’s smothering hand from where it does harm.” “Trust but verify.” “I have wondered at times what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress.” “We’ve long thought there are two things in Washington that are unbalanced—the budget and the liberals.” —Ronald Reagan ===========

“The public cannot be too curious concerning the characters of public men.” —Samuel Adams ==========

“If we can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people, under the pretence of taking care of them, they must become happy.”—Thomas Jefferson

INSIGHT“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their consciences.” —C.S. Lewis

THE GIPPER“An opportunity society awaits us. We need only believe in ourselves and give men and women of faith, courage, and vision the freedom to build it. Let others run down America and seek to punish success. Let them call you greedy for not wanting government to take more and more of your earnings. Let them defend their tombstone society of wage and price guidelines, mandatory quotas, tax increases, planned shortages, and shared sacrifices. We want no part of that mess, thank you very much. We will encourage all Americans—men and women, young and old, individuals of every race, creed, and color—to succeed and be healthy, happy, and whole. This is our goal. We see America not falling behind, but moving ahead; our citizens not fearful and divided, but confident and united by shared values of faith, family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom.” —Ronald Reagan

"We have heard of the impious doctrine in the old world, thatthe people were made for kings, not kings for the people. Isthe same doctrine to be revived in the new, in another shape -that the solid happiness of the people is to be sacrificed tothe views of political institutions of a different form? It istoo early for politicians to presume on our forgetting that thepublic good, the real welfare of the great body of the people, isthe supreme object to be pursued; and that no form of governmentwhatever has any other value than as it may be fitted for theattainment of this object."

-- James Madison (Federalist No. 45)

Reference: Federalist No. 45.===============

"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."

-- Benjamin Franklin (letter to Benjamin Vaughn, 14 March 1783)

Reference: Respectfully Quoted, p. 201===========

"The name of American, which belongs to you, in your nationalcapacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, morethan any appellation derived from local discriminations."

-- George Washington (Farewell Address, 1796)

Reference: Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the UnitedStates.=============

"So that the executive and legislative branches of the nationalgovernment depend upon, and emanate from the states. Everywhere the state sovereignties are represented; and the nationalsovereignty, as such, has no representation."

-- Joseph Story (Commentaries on the Constitution, 1833)

Reference: Story, Commentaries on the Constitution, 191.

===========“The Constitution shall never be construed... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” —Samuel Adams

==========

Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens.” —James Madison

============

“And as to the Cares, they are chiefly what attend the bringing up of Children; and I would ask any Man who has experienced it, if they are not the most delightful Cares in the World.” —Benjamin Franklin

===========

“The latent causes of faction are thus sown in the nature of man.” —James Madison

"Posterity! You will never know how much it cost us to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make a good use of it. If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it." John Adams, 1777

"[T]he government of the United States is a definite government,confined to specified objects. It is not like the stategovernments, whose powers are more general. Charity is no partof the legislative duty of the government."

-- James Madison (speech in the House of Representatives, 10January 1794)

"The state governments have a full superintendence and control overthe immense mass of local interests of their respective states,which connect themselves with the feelings, the affections,the municipal institutions, and the internal arrangements of thewhole population. They possess, too, the immediate administrationof justice in all cases, civil and criminal, which concern theproperty, personal rights, and peaceful pursuits of their owncitizens."

"The men who do iniquity in the name of patriotism, of reform, of Americanism, are merely one small division of the class that has always existed and will always exist,- the class of hypocrites and demagogues, the class that is always prompt to steal the watchwords of righteousness and use them in the interests of evil-doing.

"The stoutest and truest Americans are the very men who have the least sympathy with the people who invoke the spirit of Americanism to aid what is vicious in our government or to throw obstacles in the way of those who strive to reform it. It is contemptible to oppose a movement for good because that movement has already succeeded somewhere else, or to champion an existing abuse because our people have always been wedded to it. To appeal to national prejudice against a given reform movement is in every way unworthy and silly."

"But as the plan of the convention aims only at a partial union orconsolidation, the State governments would clearly retain all therights of sovereignty which they before had, and which were not,by that act, EXCLUSIVELY delegated to the United States."

"Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it,derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earnedand bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates,their pleasure, and their blood."

-- John Adams (A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765)

Reference: The Revolutionary Writings of John Adams, Thompson,ed. (28)

The Unanimous Declarationof the Thirteen United States of AmericaWhen in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. -- That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, -- That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. -- Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their Public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected, whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefit of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. -- And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

Last month, workmen jacked up a 206-year-old yellow clapboard house, levered it onto a set of remote-controlled dollies, and trundled it two blocks to a new site in St. Nicholas Park, overlooking East Harlem in New York City.

The Grange, as it is called, was the home of Alexander Hamilton, best known as co-author of the Federalist papers and America's first secretary of the Treasury. But this founding father also had an extraordinary role in the infant nation's attempt to come to grips with the curse of slavery.

Born in the West Indies, Hamilton was one of the most ardent abolitionists of his generation. Rare among white men of his time, he grasped the basic psychology of racism and rejected the notion of black inferiority. "The contempt we have been taught to entertain for the blacks," he wrote to fellow founding father John Jay during the Revolutionary War, "makes us fancy many things that are founded in neither reason nor experience."

He even proposed recruiting slaves to fight in return for their freedom. Arming them, he said, would "secure their fidelity, animate their courage and I believe have a good influence upon those who remain [in slavery], by opening a door to their emancipation." Hamilton was a driving force behind the New York Manumission Society, and in 1785 issued a then-radical proposal for gradual emancipation.

When he took office as secretary of the Treasury in 1789, the United States of America was in financial crisis. The federal government and the states together owed a staggering $79 million, or more than $2 trillion in present-day money, with an annual interest bill of $4.5 million – triple the foreseeable national income.

Hamilton came up with an audacious plan to consolidate the states' debts, and to create a system of credit for the national government which would enable it to recover the trust of the foreign bankers upon whom it depended for future loans. Anti-Federalists, many of them Southerners, fiercely opposed the plan, predicting that it would lead to overbearing centralization and tyranny by New York and Philadelphia money men.

Meanwhile, Congress was also at loggerheads over the site for a permanent national capital. More than 30 sites had been proposed, from Kingston, N.Y., to the frontier port of Marietta, in the future state of Ohio.

In the spring of 1790, the leading candidate was centrally located Pennsylvania, where with the assistance of local Quakers, emancipated slaves were creating the first autonomous black communities in the U.S. This was a prospect that Southern slave owners deemed horrifyingly subversive.

Snarled Rep. Aedanus Burke: "I would as soon pitch my tent beneath a tree in which was a hornet's nest, as I would, as a delegate from South Carolina, vote for placing the government in a settlement of Quakers." Northerners just as ferociously opposed the scheming of Potomac Valley planters and other Southern interests to plant the nation's permanent capital in the slave-holding South.

The result was a Congress paralyzed. Southerners were threatening secession. Hamilton was desperate: With reason, he believed that the stability of his new country depended on passage of his stalled financial package.

One day Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson found the Treasury secretary, "a pathetic picture" of despair, trudging back and forth in front of President George Washington's residence in New York City, the nation's temporary capital. That chance encounter led to the grand-daddy of all political backroom deals.

On the afternoon of June 20, 1790, Hamilton, Jefferson and James Madison met over dinner in Jefferson's rented quarters at 57 Maiden Lane in what is now New York's financial district. On the question of the new capital, Hamilton controlled enough Northern votes to sway the decision toward either Pennsylvania or the Potomac. He had already offered his support to the Pennsylvanians. But they were fatally split between advocates for Philadelphia and for a site on the Susquehannah River.

The Virginians were willing to deal. They agreed, albeit "with a revulsion of stomach almost convulsive," as Jefferson later put it, to trade enough votes to pass Hamilton's financial plan in return for his support for a capital on the Potomac, far from Philadelphia's free blacks and those worrisome Quakers.

The decision was a fateful one for the financial stability of the young nation – and for the future of 700,000 Americans held as slaves.

Had the capital been rooted in the free soil of Pennsylvania, Northerners rather than pro-slavery Southerners would have filled the ranks of government service. Southern congressmen would have witnessed the success of Pennsylvania's policy of emancipation, easing the nation toward a peaceful solution of its most divisive issue. Instead, Hamilton traded away a free national capital for one that would within a few years become one of the country's busiest slave markets, and that protected the institution of slavery from serious political challenge for another 70 years.

While the Grange is a national landmark, Hamilton's house has rarely been visited except by local school groups. Its dramatic new location at the park's steep crest will, after its restoration, doubtless draw an increasing number of pilgrims hoping to commune, in some fashion, with the spirit of the man who did more than any other to set the U.S. on a firm financial foundation. These visitors should also reflect upon the inspired idealism of a man who grappled early and daringly with the problem of race and slavery – yet who, in a twist of history, betrayed enslaved Americans in the most important decision he ever made that affected their fate.

Although Alexander Hamilton's contribution to the politics of emancipation was far greater than that of any other founding father, it was also more tragic. Fittingly, when his home reopens to the public next year, it will gaze out from its perch in St. Nicholas Park over one of the most vibrant black neighborhoods in America.

The restored Grange should be more than a hagiographic "house beautiful" monument to a marble-bust version of a founding father. Both Hamilton and black Americans deserve a memorial that squarely faces his racial idealism – as well as the noble intentions that collided with cruel political reality over Jefferson's dinner table that day in June 1790.

Mr. Bordewich is author of "Washington: The Making of the American Capital," published in May by Amistad.

“The Constitution shall never be construed... to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms.” —Samuel Adams

“Every new regulation concerning commerce or revenue; or in any manner affecting the value of the different species of property, presents a new harvest to those who watch the change and can trace its consequences; a harvest reared not by themselves but by the toils and cares of the great body of their fellow citizens.” —James Madison

“And as to the Cares, they are chiefly what attend the bringing up of Children; and I would ask any Man who has experienced it, if they are not the most delightful Cares in the World.” —Benjamin Franklin

"The blessed Religion revealed in the word of God will remain aneternal and awful monument to prove that the best Institution maybe abused by human depravity; and that they may even, in someinstances be made subservient to the vilest purposes. Should,hereafter, those incited by the lust of power and prompted bythe Supineness or venality of their Constituents, overleap theknown barriers of this Constitution and violate the unalienablerights of humanity: it will only serve to shew, that no compactamong men (however provident in its construction and sacred inits ratification) can be pronounced everlasting an inviolable,and if I may so express myself, that no Wall of words, that nomound of parchm[en]t can be so formed as to stand against thesweeping torrent of boundless ambition on the side, aided by thesapping current of corrupted morals on the other."

-- George Washington (fragments of the Draft First InauguralAddress, April 1789)

“Let the American youth never forget, that they possess a noble inheritance, bought by the toils, and sufferings, and blood of their ancestors.” —Joseph Story

"The pyramid of government-and a republican government maywell receive that beautiful and solid form-should be raised toa dignified altitude: but its foundations must, of consequence,be broad, and strong, and deep. The authority, the interests, andthe affections of the people at large are the only foundation,on which a superstructure proposed to be at once durable andmagnificent, can be rationally erected."

-- James Wilson ()

Reference: The Works of James Wilson, McCloskey, ed., 403.

“How could a readiness for war in time of peace be safely prohibited, unless we could prohibit, in like manner, the preparations and establishments of every hostile nation?” —James Madison

"Remember, my Eliza, you are a Christian."

-- Alexander Hamilton (speaking to his grieving wife, 7/12/1804)Reference: Facts and Documments..., Editor of the Evening Post,ed. (23); original letter from David Hosack, August 17, 1804

“National defense is one of the cardinal duties of a statesman.” —John Adams

"The Alien bill proposed in the Senate is a monster that mustforever disgrace its parents."

“I am not influenced by the expectation of promotion or pecuniary reward.” —Nathan Hale, who was hanged for his service to his country

"Energy in the executive is a leading character in the definitionof good government. It is essential to the protection of thecommunity against foreign attacks; it is not less essentialto the steady administration of the laws; to the protection ofproperty against those irregular and high-handed combinationswhich sometimes interrupt the ordinary course of justice; tothe security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults ofambition, of faction, and of anarchy."

-- Alexander Hamilton (Federalist No. 69, 14 March 1788)

Reference: Hamilton, Federalist No. 69.

"[W]e are confirmed in the opinion, that the present age would bedeficient in their duty to God, their posterity and themselves,if they do not establish an American republic. This is theonly form of government we wish to see established; for we cannever be willingly subject to any other King than He who, beingpossessed of infinite wisdom, goodness and rectitude, is alonefit to possess unlimited power."

Instructions of Malden, Massachusetts for a Declaration ofIndependence, 27 May 1776

"A popular Government, without popular information, or the meansof acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or,perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And apeople who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselveswith the power which knowledge gives."

-- James Madison (letter to W.T. Barry, 4 August 1822)

Reference: Letters and other Writings of James Madison, vol. 3(276)==============“If men of wisdom and knowledge, of moderation and temperance, of patience, fortitude and perseverance, of sobriety and true republican simplicity of manners, of zeal for the honour of the Supreme Being and the welfare of the commonwealth; if men possessed of these other excellent qualities are chosen to fill the seats of government, we may expect that our affairs will rest on a solid and permanent foundation.” —Samuel Adams

"Men of energy of character must have enemies; because thereare two sides to every question, and taking one with decision,and acting on it with effect, those who take the other will ofcourse be hostile in proportion as they feel that effect."

"Without wishing to damp the ardor of curiosity or influence thefreedom of inquiry, I will hazard a prediction that, after themost industrious and impartial researchers, the longest liverof you all will find no principles, institutions or systems ofeducation more fit in general to be transmitted to your posteritythan those you have received from your ancestors."

-- John Adams (letter to the young men of the Philadelphia,7 May 1798)

"It is not necessary to enumerate the many advantages, that arisefrom this custom of early marriages. They comprehend all thesociety can receive from this source; from the preservation, andincrease of the human race. Every thing useful and beneficialto man, seems to be connected with obedience to the laws ofhis nature, the inclinations, the duties, and the happinessof individuals, resolve themselves into customs and habits,favourable, in the highest degree, to society. In no case is thismore apparent, than in the customs of nations respecting marriage."

-- Samuel Williams (The Natural and Civil History of Vermont, 1794)

Reference: American Political Writing during the Founding Era:1760-1805, Hyneman and Lutz, ed., vol. 2 (952)

In this season of spring in 1945, the people of Berlin emerged from their air-raid shelters to find devastation. Thousands of miles away, the people of the United States reached out to help. And in 1947 Secretary of State George Marshall announced the creation of what would become known as the Marshall Plan. Speaking precisely 40 years ago this month, he said: "Our policy is directed not against any country or doctrine, but against hunger, poverty, desperation, and chaos." [T]hat dream became real. Japan rose from ruin to become an economic giant. Italy, France, Belgium -- virtually every nation in Western Europe saw political and economic rebirth; the European Community was founded.

In West Germany and here in Berlin, there took place an economic miracle, the Wirtschaftswunder. Adenauer, Erhard, Reuter, and other leaders understood the practical importance of liberty -- that just as truth can flourish only when the journalist is given freedom of speech, so prosperity can come about only when the farmer and businessman enjoy economic freedom. The German leaders reduced tariffs, expanded free trade, lowered taxes. From 1950 to 1960 alone, the standard of living in West Germany and Berlin doubled.

In the 1950s, Khrushchev predicted: "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well-being unprecedented in all human history. . . . And now the Soviets themselves may, in a limited way, be coming to understand the importance of freedom. . . . Are these the beginnings of profound changes in the Soviet state? Or are they token gestures, intended to raise false hopes in the West, or to strengthen the Soviet system without changing it? There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

"I believe a time will come when an opportunity will be offeredto abolish this lamentable evil. Everything we do is to improveit, if it happens in our day; if not, let us transmit to ourdescendants, together with our slaves, a pity for their unhappylot and an abhorrence of slavery."

-- Patrick Henry (letter to Robert Pleasants, 18 January 1773)

Reference: The Spirit of 'Seventy-Six, Henry Commager and RichardMorris, 402.

"[T]o exclude foreign intrigues and foreign partialities,so degrading to all countries and so baneful to free ones; tofoster a spirit of independence too just to invade the rights ofothers, too proud to surrender our own, too liberal to indulgeunworthy prejudices ourselves and too elevated not to look downupon them in others; to hold the union of the States on the basisof their peace and happiness; to support the Constitution, whichis the cement of the Union, as well in its limitations as in itsauthorities; to respect the rights and authorities reserved tothe States and to the people as equally incorporated with andessential to the success of the general... as far as sentimentsand intentions such as these can aid the fulfillment of my duty,they will be a resource which can not fail me."

"In the next place, the state governments are, by the very theoryof the constitution, essential constituent parts of the generalgovernment. They can exist without the latter, but the lattercannot exist without them."

“When World War II ended, the United States had the only undamaged industrial power in the world. Our military might was at its peak, and we alone had the ultimate weapon, the nuclear weapon, with the unquestioned ability to deliver it anywhere in the world. If we had sought world domination then, who could have opposed us? But the United States followed a different course, one unique in all the history of mankind. We used our power and wealth to rebuild the war-ravished economies of the world, including those of the nations who had been our enemies. May I say, there is absolutely no substance to charges that the United States is guilty of imperialism or attempts to impose its will on other countries, by use of force.” —Ronald Reagan

"Is the relinquishment of the trial by jury and the liberty of thepress necessary for your liberty? Will the abandonment of your mostsacred rights tend to the security of your liberty? Liberty, thegreatest of all earthly blessings - give us that precious jewel,and you may take every things else! Guard with jealous attentionthe public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel."